FILE- A Palestinian man carries a cardboard box as he stands on the rubble of a house that was demolished by Israeli settlers the previous day in a village on the outskirts of Jericho, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. AFP
Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that repeated settler assaults in the northern Jordan Valley compelled 15 Palestinian families to flee their homes. The displacement follows a pattern of escalating intimidation and violence targeting Palestinian communities in the area.
Days earlier, seven more families were forced out of the nearby al-Mita community under similar pressure from settlers.
Israeli forces, backed by military bulldozers, also raided several West Bank cities and began demolishing homes in Nablus, Jenin, Bethlehem, and Salfit.
A wide arrest campaign accompanied the raids, with multiple Palestinians detained in Jericho, Nablus, and Jenin.
Local sources said Israeli troops fired live ammunition towards school students in the town of al-Sila al-Harithiya, west of Jenin. No immediate casualty figures were reported.
In occupied East Jerusalem, Israeli forces arrested a 15-year-old boy in the town of Issawiya after raiding and ransacking his family home. Troops also stormed the Shu'fat refugee camp northeast of the city.
Settler and military violence in the West Bank has surged since the outbreak of Israel's genocidal war on Gaza began in October 2023.
At least 1,114 Palestinians—including 230 children—have been killed in Israeli military operations and settler attacks in the West Bank during that period, according to Palestinian figures. More than 22,000 Palestinians have been detained, while thousands have been forcibly displaced.
Excluding Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem, more than 500,000 Israelis live in settlements and outposts across the West Bank, which are considered illegal under international law.
Roughly three million Palestinians live in the territory, which Israel has occupied since 1967.
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